Wayne Shorter - 1962
‘This is for Albert’ is from Art Blakey’s 1963 album “Caravan”. Wayne Shorter is a brilliant composer and one of the leading exponents of what we call “Advanced Form’ Jazz (Link).
We can begin analyzing ’This is for Albert’ with the lovely melody and what the melody implies about root movement. The chord changes above try to describe the harmonization Shorter wrote for the horns. He is a master at writing unusual but very logical harmonies. A lot of the chords are functionally indeterminate so there is nothing wrong with naming them differently if it helps in preparing a solo.
When we isolate the melody and add a “logical” root movement for the A-section (Example 1) we find it runs a cycle pattern in the key of Eb (III-VI-II-V-I). The III chord gives us the four bar pedal on ‘g’.
The horn lines harmonize the melody but still hint at the root movement most of the time. Remember the Ab7 leading back to the Gmaj7 is a common tritone substitution.
Shorter gives the song a strong feeling of “Destionational Harmony” (Link) but the horn lines never really nail down a specific key.
The B-section uses a lot more altered extensions making the implied root movement less obvious but for me it seems to focus on a tonal centre of ‘g’.
It is worthwhile paying close attention to Cedar Walton’s piano accompaniment during the solos. He seems to use both the basic harmony that functionally supports the melody and the chords Shorter wrote for the horns. It gives the piece a spontaneous feel that would not be there if he simply “ran the changes”.